The second author’s collection of fairy tales by Alexei Tolstoy. “Magpie Fairy Tales,” like the first—“Mermaid Fairy Tales”—conveys not so much Russian everyday wisdom, as in Leo Tolstoy’s fairy tales, but rather the mythological and partly historical reality of the people over a long period of time—from pagan times up to the 19th century. Old Believer beliefs are combined with Christian morality, and these are shown in small fairy-tale parables, using images of animated nature and national Russian mythological forces—house-spirits, kikimoras, and others. The tales can be a little scary, a little злh…but all of them are vivid and clearly depict the people in their original form. The first part of the collection.
Contents:
1. Magpie
2. Little mouse
3. Goat
4. Hedgehog
5. Fox
6. Hare
7. Cat Vaska
8. Owl and cat
9. Sage
10. Goose
11. Mushrooms
12. Crab wedding
13. Portochki
14. Ant
15. Roosters
16. Stallion
17. Camel
18. Pot
19. Chicken god
20. Fofka